Pillowy light and soft gnocchi with tomato sauce made with ripe, fresh tomatoes, oregano and garlic. Extremely simple yet packed full of flavour.
This gnocchi with tomato sauce recipe is about as simple as it gets in terms of flavour. It takes a little effort (I mean little) to blanch and peel the tomatoes but it's so worth it. The flavour from fresh, ripe tomatoes just does not compare to any canned tomatoes you can buy.
The flavour is fresh and you don't get that acidity that can often be found with cheaper canned tomatoes which means it doesn't need to be cooked for long at all.
Blanching the tomatoes is so simple. I make a little 'X' at the bottom of the tomatoes to make them easier to peel and drop them into boiling water for around 30 seconds. They are then plunged into ice cold water to cool them right down and then peeled. After easily removing the skins, I cut out the little green stalk on the top of the tomatoes and roughly quarter them.
They're blitzed in a food processor to a fine pulp and then passed through a sieve to removed any unwanted seeds and pulp. I find the seeds can make the sauce quite bitter so by passing the pulp through a sieve it not only creates a finer sauce but easily removes the seeds too.
Now that you have your tomatoes ready you can now make the simple sauce. Fry one clove of garlic with a tablespoon of oregano and a little olive oil. After a few seconds, add the blitzed tomatoes and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the sauce down so it's reduced almost by half and thickened slightly. I always give the sauce a little taste at this point. It normally doesn't need anything, maybe a little extra pinch of salt but you may also need to add a small pinch of sugar depending on your preference. I love the sauce as it is and if your tomatoes are perfectly ripe it shouldn't need any sugar.
Toss the sauce with some soft and light gnocchi, I love making homemade gnocchi but when there's just no time for it shop bought gnocchi are perfectly fine and delicious.
For more gnocchi recipes try;
- Gnocchi with walnut and chili pesto
- Gnocchi with tomato and 'Nduja
- Fried gnocchi, prosciutto and pecorino appetizers
If you've tried this gnocchi with tomato sauce recipe or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTERESTto see more delicious food and what I'm getting up to.
Gnocchi with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1.1 lbs (500g) gnocchi
- 2.2 lbs (1kg) fresh ripe tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- parmesan for grating
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut a shallow 'X' cut into the bottom of each tomato and blanch in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and add to a bowl of ice cold water.
- Remove the tomatoes from the water and remove the skins, they should come away very easily. Cut out the green stalk at the top of each tomato and roughly chop into quarters. Add the tomatoes to a food processor and blitz to a fine pulp. Pass the pulp through a sieve to remove the seeds and extra thick pulp. Set aside.
- Bring another pot of salted water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large pan and add the garlic and oregano. Fry for a few seconds, don't let it brown and then add the tomato juice and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let it simmer for around 10 minutes until it has reduced almost by half and thickened slightly. Taste for seasoning.
- Once the sauce is pretty much done, add the gnocchi to the boiling water, once they float on the surface of the water remove them with a slotted spoon and add them to the sauce. Toss to combine and serve in bowls with a grating of parmesan.
Nutrition
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nathan
So simple and delicious, I love a good pasta sauce.